Forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday and get on board with #GivingTuesday

Author: Lyle Matthew Kan

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. In recent years, retailers have sought to spur holiday shopping immediately following turkey day with huge retail sales on Friday (Black Friday), small business efforts on Saturday (Small Business Saturday), and big online discounts on Monday (Cyber Monday). But maybe it's time to encourage people to not only shop, but also to give.

That’s where #GivingTuesday comes in. After a day of giving thanks, and three days of getting deals, why not encourage a day to give back?

Tuesday, December 3rd will mark the second annual #GivingTuesday, a special call to action that creates a national day of giving around the annual shopping and spending season. Ideally, #GivingTuesday is the opening day to a season of giving. Hopefully, our LGBTQ nonprofits can benefit.

LGBTQ nonprofits tend to be small - 70 percent have a budget of $500,000 or less. As such, they don’t always have the resources to employ dedicated development staff. By mobilizing social media to encourage people to give, efforts like #GivingTuesday can give an important platform to even the smallest of nonprofits to educate a wider audience, one they might not otherwise reach, about the critical work they are doing. So how can you get involved with #GivingTuesday? First and foremost, make a gift that is meaningful for you to an LGBTQ nonprofit you care about. If you’re on the staff or board of an LGBTQ nonprofit, encourage the organization to get involved and utilize #GivingTuesday to kick off their end-of-year fundraising.

Similar to what we saw on #GiveOutDay, some nonprofits, like Transgender Law Center, hope to maximize the potential benefits of #GivingTuesday by matching all donations that day with gifts from private donors and foundations. Other organizations, like GLAAD, are encouraging gifts as small as $2, growing their lists by engaging donors at all levels.

Any way you approach it, more money for LGBTQ nonprofits and more donors is a good thing. Hopefully, #GivingTuesday will allow a good number of LGBTQ groups kick off their end-of-year appeals with a bang and introduce a new generation of donors to nonprofits doing great work.

Of course, why wait until Tuesday to start your giving? Make the most of Cyber Monday by shopping at Amazon Smile, where 0.5% of your purchases will be donated to a charity of your choice. It’s as simple as making sure your use www.smile.amazon.com, which features all the same products but has the added donation feature.